Celebrating Love

The purpose of life is provided by Jesus at Mark 12:28-31 ~ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jeasus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Love, True Love.

Royal Crest Dairy

We have Royal Crest Dairy deliver to our door twice a week ~ this is a blessing that I soooooooo love and appreciate. Wonderful quality, taste, organic, plus convenience... that's my kind of service.

The standard size box for Royal Crest milk delivery is half the size of our extra large, big milkbox. But even the extra large milkbox isn't big enough for our family, we have two of them! They don't have the standard Royal Crest Dairy logo on the side because Dave painted the boxes to match our house in 1997. I see that they sure are showing their age :(

I recently pulled our dairy bill for December from the box. Let's see, it was $285, a smidge higher than usual. Our deliveries were as follows (with the details of prices in case we re-read this in 25 years and are stunned with inflation - ha!):

... 26 gallons whole milk for boys @ $4.99 each

... 20 half-gallons nonfat milk for parents @ $2.59 each

... 10 quarts of eggnog for ryan @ $2.69 each

... 6 dozen eggs for breakfast @ $ .99 each

... 5 loafs of wheat bread for toast & sandwiches @ $2.47 each

... 3 tubs of cookie dough for munching @ $6.95 each (and no, these never see the oven :)

... 3 quarts of french vanilla coffee creamer for dave @ $2.89

... A smattering of string cheese packages (4), cottage cheese (2), and orange juice (1)

This past summer, Drew and I were up late one night working on a publishing project for developing leaders for Youth for Christ in Africa. As we got home from Kinko's at 3.30am; we met our milkman. I asked him if we were Royal Crest's largest customer and he thought about it as he hustled back and forth between his truck and our milkbox, finally saying, "Yep, you are."

I apologized for being such a big burden as he ran past me yet again with another load of milk and supplies for our box. He called back over his shoulder, "Don't apologize, I get paid on commission!"

10,000 Steps

I got a pedometer for Christmas to help me increase my awareness and my activity levels. I also found an article that shares the latest wisdom on how many steps to take each day.




Part of the article says:

1) Under 5000 steps/day ~ "sedentary lifestyle index" ... This is definitely where I'd be without focusing on getting in more steps a day by using a pedometer!

2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise ~ "low active"

3) 7,500-9,999 likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) ~ "somewhat active"

4) 10,000 steps/day ~ "active"

5) Individuals who take more than 12,500 steps/day ~ "highly active"

http://walking.about.com/cs/measure/a/locke122004.htm

I'm trying to get 10,000 steps a day, which for me, requires both an ongoing awareness of the need to walk more in general AND often a walk around the circle (the street that circles our house ... it is 1 mile from our front door, around the circle, and backhome which at my tiny stride = 3400 steps).

I did 14,000 steps new year's eve (without trying, just busy) and was exhausted afterward. This weekend I had a 12,500 step day in which I was happy to sit afterward and watch the Broncos dominate the Pats ~ pretty tired, but not exhausted. I've done a few days around 6,000 to 7,000 steps and there's nothing much to say, just a bit mundane. There have been a couple of days at less than 5,000 steps in which I've felt sluggish. Over this past month, I must say that I've found that 10,000 steps feels really, really, really good good.

The latest issue of Time magazine has a major special section entitled, "How to Sharpen Your Mind." One of the articles includes the paragraph, "One of the top ways to take care of your mind, it turns out, is to make sure your heart is performing at its best. And there's nothing like physical activity to promote cardiac fitness. For some people, that will mean participaing in an aerobics class three or more times a week. For others, walking as fast as they can half an hour a day most days of the week will do the trick. In fact, all other things being equal, people who engage in a wide variety of physical activities - like walking and biking and dancing and swimming - seem to be better protected against cognitive decline than those who don't."

During water aerobics class this past weekend, my neighbors Michaelann, Susan and I decided to participate in the Bolder Boulder this year (http://www.bolderboulder.com/). Michaelann and I walked the 5k in the 2004 BB with some of her girlfriends and family. Although it nearly killed me (because I'd recently had surgery and was a slug) it really helped me to start getting more active. We skipped the 2005 event because her darling baby arrived this past summer. But we're really looking at walking again this Memorial Day and it will be Susan's first time.

Maybe you want to walk with us? There are 131 training days left :~)

What's My Purpose?

Unless you assume a God,

The question of life's purpose is meaningless.

Bertrand Russell, atheist

The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, which topped the New York Bestsellers List for weeks, is an awesome book. Pastor Warren writes, using hundreds of scriptural references, that each of us are born by God's purpose and for his purpose.

He notes that in finding our own unique, one in a kazillion purpose, that each of us needs to look at five different areas of purpose in our lives:

1. We were planned for God's pleasure. God didn't need to create us, but because of his love, he chose to for his enjoyment, glory, purpose, and delight. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, ... everything got started in him and finds its purspose in him. Colossians 1.16 (msg)

2. We were formed to be part of God's family. God is the one who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted to have many children to share his glory. Hebrews 2.10a (ncv)

3. We were created to become like Christ. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son... We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. Romans 8.29 (msg)

4. We were put on earth to make a contribution and provide service to others. We weren't created just to consume resources - we've been designed to make a difference with our lives. It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. Ephesians 2.10 (lb)

Pastor Warren uses the acrostic SHAPE to identify components of how we were uniquely shaped for our special service.

S=Spriritual Gifts

H=Heart & Passion

A=Abilities & Talents

P=Personality

E=Experiences.

5. God is at work in the world, and he wants us to join him. The mission Jesus had while on earth is now our mission because we are the Body of Christ. What is that mission? Introducing people to God!

God wants to use us to redeem human beings from Satan and reconcile them to himself so we can fulfill the five purposes he created us for: to love him, to be a part of his family, to become like him, to serve him, and to tell others about him. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the worrld, I give them a mission in the world. John 17.18 (msg)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night in our Youth Community, we started working with each of the teens to help them find their purpose via their SHAPE. We decided to start with P and each of the teens did a personality/temperment profile test (similar to the Myers-Briggs approach) online at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm. (It was so cool that the computer loft was all set and ready with four computers to use :) The results and accuracy of the test, putting each of the teens in 1 of 16 different temperment categories, was astonishing in regards to both accuracy and insight. We're really looking forward to helping the teens in our group to do more fun work to discover and celebrate their individual SHAPEs this semester.

Life is fulfilling, exciting, dynamic, meaningful, and pleasurable when you have the sense and reward of intentionally living with great purpose. It is really neat for me to be blessed by using my SHAPE to help the teens find their SHAPE!

PS ~ Ryan tests as an ISTJ (Inspector Guardian) http://keirsey.com/personality/sjit.html and Drew tested as an ESFP (Performer Artisan) http://keirsey.com/personality/spef.html. These descriptions read as if they were written especially for these two great, yet quite opposite, teens!

Breakfast

Breakfast... to break fast ... to break the fast... morning meal...

Breakfast at our place is fun and tasty. I make a hot breakfast almost every morning with our favorite "quick" breakfast being scrambled eggs with whole milk, a little salt, and grated cheese added at the very end to melt in. The eggs are served along side whole-wheat cinnimon sugar toast that is toasted in the toaster oven and topped with country crock buttery spread, cinnimon, and sugar - then I cut all the crusts off. Now that's a sticky finger messy job, and don't anybody try to tell me all the nutrients are in the crust (that's only true for fruits and vegetables, right?) but oh-boy is the toast so moist and delicate and tasty if the crusts have been cut off!

Some fun variations include eggs over easy, pancakes, and bacon pieces in the eggs.

With Ryan's schedule, he sometimes misses hot breakfast, and when he does he likes to have frosted mini-wheats or frosted flakes. Drew doesn't like to eat anything in the morning (or to talk or to smile, such a goofball) but about every other morning I can tempt him to break his fast with a cup of hot chocolate (whole milk in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, 3 scoops of hershey chocolate milk mix, poured into a starbucks type cup and lid, courtesy of Sam's Club). I'm trying to increase whole grains, so in addition to switching the family to whole wheat bread last year, this year I've often been eating oatmeal made with whole milk and brown sugar. It tastes too good to really be good for you, but I'm sticking with it anyway :~)

Breakfast ~ mmmmm, mmmmm, good!

Dave's Back Has Been "Out" Again ...

Dave's been in bed since this past Wednesday because his back is in major spasms again (so the boys and I re-did the loft, worry not that it was the loft that triggered the back pain because the back was out first). It seems like it has been happening more lately but I'm not sure why. It's sad to see him in so much pain. He went to work today, but since he hasn't been out of bed more than 10 minutes a day for the past 5 days, I'm not sure whether he'll be able to take a full shift today.

Jules said she would talk to their new super-dooper back doctor at her hospital to see whether there are any new treatments for muscular back problems. Dave's been working out and has gotten trim and strong, so the typical prescription of "lose weight and strengthen your core" have already been applied.

Please pray for Dave ~ it would be so awesome to have his back healed after 25 years of these painful episodes and periods in his life!

The New Loft

Well, it is done!

First we had to empy the loft out ....

Then we had to fill it back up ...

I'm really pleased with how it came out. We decided to order the furniture in the design that seemed to be just right for the space, and it finally arrived this week. And we did end up buying the couch that I had found at the consignment store which seemed to fit so wonderfully on the angled half-wall.

Drew got his new computer for Christmas with the special graphic card which also included the mondo-sized monitor. Ryan is holding off for a spiffy new laptop this summer before he heads off to college so he's sticking with his old Dell. Trey adopted Drew's old computer and Sean is using my old laptop which is circa last century, which is just fine to play Runescape :)

Some might say that our children are spoiled ~ I'd rather believe that they are a priority and treated as such. I'm totally "in" to raising our children walking with God, showing kindness to others, the expectation of self-discipline, and the requirements of hard work. But I'm total "out" on denying them and withholding material blessings if we've been blessed in a manner that we can provide such material blessings to them. I guess it seems to me that their value to us should show in our hearts, time, and pocketbook.

The boys, and their friends, seem really happy with the new loft. I think it came out pretty cool, too :)

Table Toys

A Christmas Tradition at our house is that Santa includes Table Toys in our stockings. Over the years, we've had all sorts of games, builders, puzzles, tricks, and challenges on the kitchen table along with the napkins and salt & pepper.

This year, magnets were the theme. So now, there are six little magnet men and a bowl full of geomags that live full time on the kitchen table (we had a few on the table starting in November and everyone seemed to really enjoy them, so Santa brought us a whole lot more). Today, the magnet men and geomags were visited by two bionical soldiers :) and of course, the napkin bear was also there since he lives on the table full-time.


It is rare that anyone who sits at our table doesn't play with our Table Toys... I suppose this is because each of us really does still have a child living inside our heart. Also, engaging in something simple, yet entertaining, adds to the fun of the relationship building that seems to happen most easily in the kitchen. I love Table Toys.